Hotel Room Block Etiquette

Choose hotels that dont require a certain number of rooms to be booked. we put an extra card in our invites listing the name, address, and ph number to the hotel we blocked rooms at, and it says "book under the mcdowell wedding"...so i think they probably get the hint that rooms are blocked there for out of towners

I wouldn't go with a room block that requires you to come out of pocket if a minimum is not met. Are you trying to reserve rooms at a certain rate, or just a hotel where you can guarantee rooms being available for your guests. Is there are reason why you want to limit your guests to staying at only one hotel? I would suggest offering 2-3 hotels at different price points, so you will not rule out certain guests. If you would like someone to help coordinate your wedding guest travel, I would be happy to present what I can offer you and there is no charge for my services. Feel free to contact me at *****@********************.***.

I'm not set on just this hotel -- they just happen to have great rates, have a shuttle service to and from our venue (that they've set up with the venue), and have great rates on airport shuttles (we are a bit away from the local airport) so it is a really great option for people not getting rental cars ... but, I'm looking into other hotels as well. I'd just really like to use this one too :/ may have to opt out though.

We did the research of looking into hotels in the area, but we are not paying for the rooms.

I'm not sure why you are doing this, unless perhaps it is expected in your circle of friends and family?

We understand that our out of town guests are committing time and money to attend our wedding, so we are hosting a cocktail and appetizer party for them 2 nights before the wedding.

We appreciate them coming, but if they cannot afford it, they should say decline, not expect that the couple pay for their lodging. At least, that is my expectation in my social circle.

Can you maybe do the block at the hotel with the casino? I would not do a block if I was responsible for paying anything other than my own room.

Most hotels will do a courtesy block, meaning they will hold rooms for your group until a certain date (usually a month before the actual event). Any unbooked rooms just get released back to the public at no cost to whoever created the block.

Marissa, oh no, we aren't paying for the rooms! We are just blocking them, but say we block ten and only 8 get filled, then we are responsible for paying for the other two rooms ... If 10 or more are booked, then we don't owe anything. This seems odd to me as well, a courtesy block sounds a bit more like what I expected. I'll just have to keep searching around. I'm sure there is a better option out there!

Kylene, sounds like a great deal that this hotel has with your venue. You can list this hotel on your invites, not as a room block, and let guests know the benefits of staying at this hotel verses others (i.e, free airport shuttle, etc) and maybe put a price range. You don't have to block a set of rooms for your guests, but you should list suggestions for those coming out of town so they don't have to do the research on their own.

I wouldn't do a room block at a hotel where a minimum was required and I would be stuck with a bill. They definitely don't all work that way. In fact, no hotels that I looked into required that. I would keep looking. You don't want to be "pressuring" your guests to stay at a specific hotel.

Can you do a room block at the casino hotel, but provide information on both places to your guests? I wouldn't want to be responsible for the extra rooms if you do not meet the block requirement.